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US 9,540,185 B2Granted
Rack stopper system
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorsJohn Psutka, Mike Ellis, Todd Jason Hughes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a rack stopper system for holding a plurality of components and/or component trays on a rack and then allowing the component trays to be transferred to another rack. The system can include a base, a support bar attached to the base, and a wiper bar pivotally attached to the support bar. The wiper bar can have a stop position that blocks a component and/or a component tray from rolling off of a first rack and a pass position that allows the component and/or component tray to roll off of the first rack and onto a second rack.
Claims8
A rack stopper system for restricting the flow of components on a rack, said rack stopper system comprising:
- a loading rack having:
- a loading rack unload end and a loading rack actuator device;
- a loading rack first support bar mounted to the loading rack unload end;
- a loading rack first wiper bar pivotally attached to the loading rack first support bar and pivotable between a stop position and a pass position, the loading rack first wiper bar having a plate end and a stop end;
- a loading rack first lift plate movable between an up position and a down position, the loading rack first lift plate engaged with the plate end of the loading rack first wiper bar;
- a dolly operable to roll along a floor into alignment with the loading rack and having a dolly load end and a dolly trigger, the loading rack unload end being generally the same height as the dolly load end;
- wherein:
- the loading rack first lift plate engages the plate end of the loading rack first wiper bar such that when the loading rack first lift plate is in the down position the loading rack first wiper bar is in the stop position, and when the loading rack first lift plate is in the up position the loading rack first wiper bar is in the pass position, the loading rack first lift plate moving to the up position when the dolly trigger activates the loading rack actuator device, and the loading rack first lift plate moving to the down position when the dolly trigger moves away from the loading rack actuator device;
- and
- the components are restricted from traveling from the loading rack to the dolly when the loading rack first wiper bar is in the stop position, and the components are free to travel from the loading rack to the dolly when the loading rack first wiper bar is in the pass position.
7 more elements
A rack stopper system for restricting the flow of components on a rack, said rack stopper system comprising:
- a loading rack having:
- a loading rack unload end and a loading rack actuator device;
- a loading rack first support bar mounted to the loading rack unload end;
- a loading rack first wiper bar pivotally attached to the loading rack first support bar and pivotable between a stop position and a pass position, the loading rack first wiper bar having a plate end and a stop end;
- a loading rack first lift plate movable between an up position and a down position, the loading rack first lift plate engaged with the plate end of the loading rack first wiper bar;
- a dolly operable to roll along a floor into alignment with the loading rack and having a dolly load end and a dolly trigger, the loading rack unload end being generally the same height as the dolly load end, the dolly comprising:
- a dolly unload end and a dolly second support bar mounted to the dolly unload end;
- a dolly second wiper bar pivotally attached to the dolly second support bar and pivotable between a stop position and a pass position, the dolly second wiper bar having a plate end and a stop end;
- an unloading rack comprising:
- an unloading rack load end, the unloading rack load end being generally the same height as the dolly unload end;
- an unloading rack second lift plate movably mounted to the unloading rack load end, the unloading rack second lift plate movable between an up position and a down position;
- wherein:
- the loading rack first lift plate engages the plate end of the loading rack first wiper bar such that when the loading rack first lift plate is in the down position the loading rack first wiper bar is in the stop position, and when the loading rack first lift plate is in the up position the loading rack first wiper bar is in the pass position, the loading rack first lift plate moving to the up position when the dolly trigger activates the loading rack actuator device, and the loading rack first lift plate moving to the down position when the dolly trigger moves away from the loading rack actuator device;
- and
- the components are restricted from traveling from the loading rack to the dolly when the loading rack first wiper bar is in the stop position, and the components are free to travel from the loading rack to the dolly when the loading rack first wiper bar is in the pass position.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.